Prior to this invention, it has been well known and documented that magnetic treatment of water can be very helpful in softening water and in helping to discourage the formation of scale associated with the handling of calcarious waters which deposit scales or encrustation on heat exchanger and conduit surfaces, such as found in water supply lines in industrial and residential situations. Also, it is known that such treated waters may be used to eliminate previously deposited scales from surfaces contacted by untreated waters.
Prior art patents relating to magnetic water conditioning techniques which utilize permanent magnets have proposed the use of everything from simple elongated bar magnets that are polarized along their longitudinal axes, to cylindrical discs that are polarized along their diameters. In some instances, elongated bar magnets that are polarized along their diameters have been advocated, and the facial polarization of disc type magnets along their axes of symmetry has also been advocated. Included with the various different types of permanently magnetized structures and their arrangements are structures which require fluid flow parallel to the polar axes of the magnets, structures which direct the fluid perpendicular to the polar axes, as well as other and various complicated and expensive structural arrangements that have advocated other desired flow characteristics. In particular, the inventor is aware of the following U.S. patents which disclose various different types of devices for magnetically conditioning water: U.S. Pat. No. 2,652,925 to Vermeiren; U.S. Pat. No. 2,939,830 to Green et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,228,878 to Moody; U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,479 to Brown; U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,559 to Sanderson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,535 to Risk; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,498 to Kulish.
These prior art arrangements for providing the seemingly desired flow paths relative to the flux fields are expensive to incorporate into commercial designs for water conditioning and are devised primarily to prevent or remove scaling of pipes and equipment.
United States, Canadian and European investigations have also confirmed that the magnetic treatment of water can be extremely beneficial in helping to promote plant growth. These studies show healthier, richer lawn growth and increased vegetable and fruit yields. Magnetically treated water, free (neutralized) from harmful chemicals, enhances fertilizer and passes more readily through compacted topsoil. The "smaller" molecules associated with magnetically treated water are absorbed more easily through capillary action in plants and vegetable roots, and can carry beneficial nutrients to more areas than non-treated water. This results in a stronger and more well-developed root system, which in turn allows more nutrients for development of above-ground growth where photosynthesis takes place.
Even though it has been recognized that magnetic treatment can have beneficial effects on plant growth characteristics, there has not been developed, to the best of the inventor's knowledge, an effective and economical apparatus which can be easily used to treat water, or any other liquids, inexpensively by using permanent magnets.